Some of Azerbaijan’s natural preserves will be liquidated as part of efforts to develop tourism in the country and change the status of strictly preserved areas to national parks.
One of the approved sites is the Gey-Gel [blue lake in Azeri] state preserve, some 35 km south of Ganja, Azerbaijan’s second biggest city, in the western part of the country.
A relevant draft law is under preparation to formalize the entire process, according to Bilal Verdiyev, the director of the preserve. “Such decision has been made after the review of the Hajikand вЂ" Gey-Gel site by representatives from competent state structures and international observers,” he told Trend.
According to him, the experts have agreed to the availability of the area for tourism development.
The Gey-Gel Lake, located 1,556 meters above sea level, emerged after the devastating earthquake that ruined Ganja in 1139. The lake is noticed by the purity of waters surveying a picturesque view to nearby woodlands.
Verdiyev thinks that the new status will fully ensure the protection of endangered species found within and nearby the boundaries of the preserved area.
The �conversion’ plan also envisions fencing in the lake and the surrounding woodland with the thorny hedge (barbed wire), while the tourism infrastructure, including health and recreation facilities, hotels and sanatoriums, will be developed at a certain distance from the preserved area of the national park. The existing recreational facilities in the Gey-Gel state preserve have been handed by the Ministry of Economic Development over to foreign administration.
In future, the visitors will be given an opportunity to admire the scenery, including the lake, from a nearby tourist path. Only scientists will be allowed to entering the preserved area, in order to study the nature and its creatures there.